Demon Lord's Reincarnation

The path to the truth has always been the thing all of the descendants of the Loder Clan pursued, but the truth each of them sought was different from one another. Unlike Cry who sought the truth of everything his descendants knew that they did not have as much time or talent as their ancestor Cry Loder so they decided to walk a single path toward the truth that they sought.

Some sought the truth of magic, others the truth of blacksmithing, the most famous path they walked was the way of the warrior or the martial way. The least walked-on path was that of the alchemist as most of the Loder Clan thought it was a combination of a magician, a potion maker, and a blacksmith.

There were also many who had tried to follow the alchemist's path to seek the truth but none of them got far. As for those who walked the martial way many of them had come closer to the truth they sought after more so than the other members of the clan.

...

Still, no matter what path you choose to walk the end was the truth that all members of the Loder Clan sought after. Even Cry Loder hasn't reached the truth he was seeking as he continued to research various things.

If you ask a member of the Loder Clan what the truth is, none of them will answer in the same way. In the end, the so-called truth was nothing more than an eternal goal that would never be reached.

In the past, even though he understood that he might never reach the so-called truth Cry Loder did not stop seeking it. He was a man obsessed with learning every new thing he saw, it did not matter if he could not reach the truth since the destination was not the point but the journey itself.

That was until he learned about the ORIGIN, after learning about the creation of everything, Cry finally got a glimpse of the so-called real truth, which is a story for another time.

Still, to Cry Loder's descendants finding the truth was just deciding the path on which they walk and hoping to reach the end of that path someday.

As of now the two who have become enlightened during their battle have stepped further into the end of their paths.

...

Nero who had reached a sort of enlightenment had his spiritual energy overflowing and he did not hold back his surging battle intent. There were no tricks and feints Nero simply walked towards Julius.

Julius had already foreseen this situation and threw a few bottles on the ground creating golems using the materials of the arena's floor. These golems were nothing more than shields for Julius to attack Nero from a distance.

Julius took out a few bombs he had created for this day, each bomb had the power of mid-class spell. Even though Julius knew that these bombs would not work against Nero who was able to take on his strongest spell and survive, they were good enough to drain Nero's spiritual energy.

Nero who was making destroying the golems sensed the bombs that were about to hit him. Nero clenched his fist and punched upward in the direction of the thrown bombs. The strength, speed, and spiritual energy in Nero's punch created a powerful wind pressure that hit the bombs mid-air making them forcefully explode.

Nero then quickly blocked the incoming strike from the golem, but it was at that moment a gap appeared in his defense. Julius who saw the gap fired an arrow at Nero.

The bow Julius was using was something he asked Reiner to make for him, it was originally a bow that could fire arrows at a speed twenty times faster than sound. Julius using his alchemy skills had enhanced the bow so that it could fire at the speed of light, but unfortunately after doing that the arrows given to him could not withstand the speed and would break.

Julius asked Reiner if he could make arrows that could withstand the speed. Reiner answered positively but the time needed to make the arrows was too long. So, in the end, Julius needed to enhance each arrow as well, and it was a lot of effort on his part.

...

The powerful arrow pierced Nero's side and he felt a similar poison to what Julius used a while ago enter his body. Nero pulled out the arrow and was about to expel the poison out of his body when another arrow was shot towards him.

Nero dodged the arrow but what awaited him from the side was the fist of a golem. Nero had no time to expel the poison from his body as Julius was attacking relentlessly. It was slow but the poison was affecting Nero's movements so he could not dodge some of the attacks and was forced to take a few blows.

"Do you see that?! The path of alchemy is not as defective as you people claim it to be! It might not have as powerful attacks as a magician's spell or the speed and precision of the martial way, it might not have as detailed workmanship as a blacksmith's forge, but it is versatile. No matter the situation an alchemist can adapt and respond no matter what is thrown at him."

Watching the fight the other members now finally understood a bit about the advantages of alchemy. It would seem that it was them who had dismissed the teachings of the Ancestor, Cry Loder. The path taken could come from anywhere, but there is no such thing as a wrong path as each step one has taken will always lead you somewhere.

While Julius was getting excited as he could feel that victory was close at hand, he suddenly felt extreme pain.

'Damn, it's the backlash from the strengthening potion.' Julius who was aiming his bow at Nero could no longer hold onto his weapon and let go. 'Damn it, no not yet, not when I'm so close to achieving my goal.'

Nero who had finished destroying the golems noticed Julius's current state, he knew that this was his chance to turn defeat into victory. Both Julius and Nero were in a bad state and the next blow was to be their last.